Quotes on Specialization

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. - Robert Anson Heinlein, 1907 - 1988

The time comes when you realize that you haven't only been specializing in something - something has been specializing in you. - Arthur Miller, 1915 - 2005

In the 20th century, specialisation has become the counterfeit of brilliance. - Richard Gordon

The open society, the unrestricted access to knowledge, the unplanned and uninhibited association of men for its furtherance—these are what may make a vast, complex, ever growing, ever changing, ever more specialized and expert technological world, nevertheless a world of human community. - J. Robert Oppenheimer, 1904 - 1967

What we need is more people who specialize in the impossible. - Theodore Roethke, 1908 - 1963